EC2 Instance Volumes Flashcards
What is an Instance Store Volume?
An Instance Store Volume provides temporary block-level storage for Amazon EC2 instances. This storage is physically attached to the host computer and is designed to provide high-performance, temporary storage for instances that do not require persistent storage.
What are the characteristics of Instance Store Volumes?
Instance Store Volumes offer high I/O performance and low latency compared to EBS volumes. However, the data on an Instance Store Volume is lost if the instance is stopped, terminated, or if the underlying drive fails.
In what scenarios are Instance Store Volumes recommended?
Instance Store Volumes are recommended for temporary storage of information that changes frequently, such as buffers, caches, scratch data, and other temporary content, or for data replicated across multiple instances, like distributed databases.
How do Instance Store Volumes differ from EBS volumes?
Unlike EBS volumes, Instance Store Volumes are ephemeral and their data is lost when the instance is stopped or terminated. EBS volumes, on the other hand, provide persistent block storage that remains until explicitly deleted.
Can you add Instance Store Volumes to an EC2 instance after its launch?
No, Instance Store Volumes must be specified at the launch of the instance. They cannot be added to an instance after it has been launched.
How is data persistence handled with Instance Store Volumes?
Instance Store Volumes do not offer data persistence. Data stored on Instance Store Volumes is lost upon instance stop or termination. For persistent storage, AWS recommends using EBS volumes or backing up data to Amazon S3.
What type of storage technology is used in Instance Store Volumes?
Instance Store Volumes use SSD (solid-state drive) or HDD (hard disk drive) storage media, depending on the instance type. SSD-based instances generally offer faster performance compared to HDD-based instances.
Are Instance Store Volumes suitable for databases?
Instance Store Volumes are usually not recommended for databases that require durability and persistence. They are best suited for temporary storage and workloads that can tolerate or are designed for data loss.
How do you determine the availability of Instance Store Volumes for an EC2 instance type?
The availability of Instance Store Volumes varies by EC2 instance type. To determine if an instance type offers Instance Store Volumes, you can refer to the Amazon EC2 instance types documentation on the AWS website.
What strategies can be used to mitigate the risk of data loss with Instance Store Volumes?
To mitigate the risk of data loss with Instance Store Volumes, regularly back up critical data to Amazon S3, use replication across multiple instances, or distribute the application’s state across a fleet of instances to ensure redundancy.
